The best beautiful indie app games

Forget Flappy Birds, these iOS and Android games genuinely push the boundaries

Monument Valley

Possibly the best looking game on any platform, Monument Valley is a work of art, with pastel colours, detailed lines and a constantly changing scenery. The gameplay itself is straightforward, just tap to move, but the puzzles keep getting tougher as you progress, leaving plenty of frustrating moments.

Ridiculous Fishing

A highlight of indie games for iOS and Android, Ridiculous Fishing is completely unique, with a classic art design and fun gameplay. You play as a fisherman, who tries to catch as many river dwelling creatures as possible, only to shoot them to smithereens when they come out of the water. Yep, you read that right. You can upgrade your arsenal as you progress, unlocking more items by decapitating as many fish as you can.

Two Dots

A sequel of sorts to Dots, Two Dots works in a similar vein, but there's more variety in the challenges and scenes you find yourself in. The main objective is to match up Dots by colour, tapping on them and creating lines to make them disappear. While it's easy to begin with, as you progress it gets a lot tougher and with levels being added all the time, there's always a new one to have a go at.

Thomas Was Alone

Indie games often look absolutely beautiful, and Thomas Was Alone is truly one of those titles. The simple, blocky and colourful world you take Thomas (a small rectangle) through is great, there are 100 levels to keep you entertained for ages and it's even narrated by Danny Wallace.

Year Walk

Year Walk is like nothing else you've ever seen on mobiles. Take a stroll through the paranormal in 19th century Sweden, and solve puzzles to discover more about the world around you, and your own story. A masterful display of story-telling.

Rymdkapsel

A mix of resource management, spatial planning with a bit of tower defence thrown in for good measure. Rymdkapsel is perhaps the best mobile game that no-one really knows about - furiously addictive and mentally challenging at the same time.

Osmos

Positively Darwinian in it's mechanics, Osmos gives you control of a small organism. Eat smaller organisms to get bigger, and evade larger predators to survive. Pac-Man fans, you've just found a new favourite app.

Device 6

Anna wakes up in a castle on a remote island with no memory of her past. Device 6 blends the lines of novel and game to tell a mesmerising story, where you must solve the puzzles and decipher the clues to keep reading.

Hundreds

Tap and hold circles to expand them, to meet the requisite total in the background. But if circles collide whilst you're growing them, it's game over man. Minimalist and tranquil, Hundreds will suck you in and steal away hours of your life before you know what's happened.

Minotaur Rescue

Created by indie legend Jeff Minter, Minotaur Rescue is a little like Geometry Wars on acid. Battle gravity, space rocks and alien invaders as you fight to survive, whilst rescuing Minotaurs from their shackles. Retro gaming at it's best.

Safari Rescue

Rescue safari animals with your helicopter and net from the African savannah. We're not sure why you're rescuing them from their natural habitat... perhaps it's because of the ravenous lions that are eating everything. Harmless fun.

Tiny Wings

The original Flappy Bird, Tiny Wings doesn't challenge you with horrendously unfair collision detection but is a rather more gentle test of your judgement. Flap your wings and travel as far as you can. Ever-changing environments are a lovely bonus.

Space Team

Link your devices together via WiFi and Space Team makes you into the crew of a makeshift starship. Each member gets a different control panel and as the instructions flash across the top of your screen, you have to communicate to survive. Simple but brilliant fun.

So Long

Drive your Conestoga wagon from the empty plains of Oregon to El Dorado - The City of Gold. Not only does this mean dealing with some fiendish triangle hills, but you'll also have to manage your 'crew' who will need feeding and protecting from illness.